TB lobby group Tshiamiso Trust is urging former gold miners in the Eastern Cape to claim compensation for the lung damage from silicosis they contracted when working in mines.
The Tshiamiso Trust, established to carry out the terms of a landmark silicosis and TB class action settlement agreement in 2019, is tasked with providing “meaningful compensation” to former mineworkers who have contracted silicosis or work-related TB. The compensation is also extended to their dependants if they passed away.
The historic settlement agreement was approved by the South Gauteng High Court in 2019, allowing gold miners suffering from silicosis and TB to proceed with claims against 30 gold mining companies including Harmony Gold, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and African Rainbow Minerals.
To qualify for compensation, claimants are required to have carried out “risk work” at one of the qualifying gold mines outlined in the trust deed between March 12 1965 and December 10 2019.
Living mineworkers must have permanent lung impairment from silicosis or TB that they contracted while doing risk work at these mines. For deceased mineworkers, there must either be evidence that they died from work-related TB within a year of leaving the mine if it is a TB claim, or evidence that they had silicosis or died from silicosis if it’s a silicosis claim, according to the trust.
The Eastern Cape has the highest number of claims lodged and payments from the trust, with R516m having been paid to 5,443 beneficiaries, the trust said.
However, Tshiamiso Trust CEO Munyadziwa Kwinda said the organisation was “deeply concerned” about its inability to contact claimants and potential beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape. More than 1,400 former mineworkers urgently needed to undergo benefit medical examinations (BMEs) with the trust’s medical service provider in the province.
BMEs are a critical step in determining the presence of a qualifying disease and the extent of mineworkers’ lung damage, he said.
“We urge all ex-mineworkers or their families, where a mineworker has passed away, to lodge their claims at their nearest TEBA office,” said Kwinda. “Time is of the essence and we want to ensure we afford an opportunity to all eligible claimants to lodge and receive the compensation due to them.”
Kwinda said a lack of supporting documentation, particularly documents proving the medical cause of death for deceased mineworkers, was preventing many claims from progressing, “requiring urgent intervention”.
“We are also struggling to reach many claimants who need to submit additional documentation,” he said.
“When claimants change their contact numbers after lodging claims without updating the trust, it creates a significant barrier preventing us from providing essential updates on their claims and hindering necessary verifications during the payment stage.”
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